Waking Up The Devil

by Chris Miller

Once a devilishly brutal cleaner for the mob, Cade Samson has been lying low with his brother in peace for years.

Then one day, the son of his old boss puts a gun to his head and takes his little brother hostage, thrusting him back into the life. It isn’t long before the cops, the Feds, and the mob are all after him.

Cade just wants his brother back. If that means he has to awaken the devil inside, so be it. But they should have kept something in mind...

When you dance with the Devil, you don’t get to pick the tune.



“Chris Miller is one of the best kept secrets in crime fiction. But he won’t be a secret anymore once readers get ahold of this masterful new offering.” —Andy Rausch, author of Hell To Pay

“A knuckleduster of a racing-against-the-clock thriller, with loads of balls to the wall action. Miller's Cade Samson makes most tough-guy protagonists look as menacing as Dylan Mulvaney slurping on a Bud Light. To quote from the ‘Forget rock and roll; it's time for heavy metal.’” —Michael Bruce Blackwell, author of Wildlife on the Serengeti

279 pages, Paperback

Published October 31, 2025

Reviews

[Patrick III · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chris Miller smells like burnt hair and boiled cabbage. He looks like the ass end of a buffalo that's been repeatedly violated by a much bigger buffalo. But he writes decent books, I suppose.

[Bryan Moyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pure Action

This was like an old school action movie in book form. It starts at a breakneck pace pace and remains relentless throughout. The action scenes are filled with violence and gore, and each one has you wondering what horrors the next fight give you. The story itself falls into place with a classic mob/revenge theme. Cade is the perfect anti hero that you find yourself cheering for even when you know you shouldn't. This was my first Miller experience, and it won't be my last.

[Andy Rausch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the good pleasure of reading this before publication and blurbing it. The blurb I wrote was true. Can't remember what exactly I wrote, but I hope I wrote that Chris Miller is a master of every genre he touches, because he absolutely is. Readers, you'll love it, writers, you'll hate him for being so goddamn good.

[Holly Groff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I met the author, Chris Miller, at the Knoxville Book Fair l. His description of this book was John Wick directed by Quentin Tarantino.
SOLD
Disclaimer, I'm not a huge fan of blood. But I thoroughly enjoy John Wick. And Quentin Tarantino takes his violence a touch too far IMO, but he makes me laugh.
Walking Up the Devil was non-stop action. A fun read, when you skim the gore.

[Carolynne aka Saucy Chicken · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got to meet Chris Miller at the Knoxville Book Convention last year, and I finally got around to reading this book. Had I known how good this book was, I would have read it the same day I got it.

5 stars is not enough to rate this book. It honestly deserves ALL THE STARS. It was non-stop action from the moment I opened the cover. And I am left wanting soooo much more. I NEED more of Cade Samson in my life.

Cade Samson is a retired "cleaner" for the local mafia. He gets pulled out of retirement when his brother is threatened. In that moment, Cade decides that everyone involved will meet their end by his hand, and it will be a slow, painful exit from this world.

After breaking in to the Tyler, TX police station to retrieve a state's evidence witness, Cade is thrown into a battle he never wanted to be a part of, but the son of his former boss had other plans. Refusing to roll over and take orders from anyone, he sets out to save his brother with the help of some old friends from back in the day.

As the crescendo ramps up, the Devil comes out to play. Unfortunately for everyone else on the playground, the Devil doesn't play fair, and he certainly plays for keeps.

I highly, HIGHLY recommend this book.